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World release in twenty countries for the eagerly awaited book by Edward Snowden, Tuesday, September 17th. But in the United States, the memories of the former CIA employee do not pass. The day of the release of " Permanent Record ", " Mémoire vive " in French, the US government asks the court to seize all the recipes of the autobiography of the whistleblower. For the US Department of Justice, his book constitutes a "breach of contract" that binds Snowden with his former employers, the CIA and the NSA.
With our correspondent in San Francisco , Eric de Salve
Twenty copies sold from the first day. " Permanent Record ", " Mémoire vive " in French, the memories of Edward Snowden , the 36-year-old whistleblower who has fled to Russia since he denounced the massive surveillance of communications by US intelligence in 2013, are starting rather good in this San Francisco bookseller. Behind his chest, Michael, the bookseller, himself intrigued by the course of the former US spy, has set a copy aside.
" The fact that he was forced to go to Russia and end up locked up there with Putin, who said to him, '' You are safe here, '' is an incredible irony, he laughs. It makes his story even more fascinating ! "
Entering all the profits of the book
Less enthusiastic, US authorities ask the court to seize all the profits of the book. Snowden tells why in 2013, he made the choice to reveal the secrets of mass surveillance of the CIA, even if he has lived in exile ever since. To understand, Jon, a young engineer in Sillicon Valley, has just bought his autobiography.
" I can understand why he is doing this, why he sacrificed everything for, in my opinion, the benefit of our country, " he says . But let's be honest, what he did was a crime, and any American who commits a crime is entitled to a fair trial. He should not be pursued by this old anti-espionage law . "
A whistle-blower for some, a traitor for many Americans, Snowden faces life imprisonment in the United States for spying and theft of state secrets.